Trend watch: salon software innovations
Industry pros reveal three of the biggest innovations set to shape the software market:
1. Healthy competition – “At Treatwell, I see our future developments to be in market intelligence. We want to get to a point where our users can benchmark their performance against others. Most software shows you how your business is performing but it doesn’t tell you if you’re competitive on price, how your occupancy levels compare to competitors down the road and so on,” says Madeleine Raynel, client services director at Treatwell.
2. Apple-inspired floor plans – “We’re starting to see staff go outside of the reception desk – traditionally the fixed point of any salon – to update client details and make appointments on tablets over the cloud; a layout more like the Apple store,” says Mark Rowley, strategic alliance and partnership manager at Shortcuts software.
3. Digital developments – “There’s been a huge change in devices over the past 10 years with tablets, smartphones and faster PCs, and there’s more technology coming in terms of biometrics that will allow for higher levels of security,” says Jess Swift, managing director of UK software provider Salon Exec.
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